Following the extraordinary events in Syria, Israel decided not to take any chances and swiftly moved up to the top of Mount Hermon, making sure they could protect the border from whatever might happen next.
The mountain ridge runs along the border between Lebanon and Syria with the southern slope of the mountain descending into the most northerly part of Israel, in the Golan Heights. However, the very top of the mountain is in Syrian territory. Overlooking not only Syria, but also Lebanon and Israel, the peak of the mountain makes it a perfect look out. Mount Hermon is so strategic it has been called “the eyes of the Middle East”.
Mount Hermon is a deeply significant place, both from a geo-political point of view, but also historically, and most important of all, spiritually.
Prime Minister Netanyahu went up there for the first time in decades to take a look. “I was here 53 years ago with my soldiers on an IDF patrol. It is the same place, it has not changed, but its importance to Israel’s security has only gained strength in recent years.”1
Mount Hermon is the highest mountain in Israel, reaching 2040 meters (almost 6,700 feet) within Israeli territory, just short of the peak which rises to 2,814 meters (9,232 feet). There’s snow up there for much of the year, making it a great ski resort. When I visited I saw someone had written in the crunchy, icy snow “LOVE JESUS”! Great advice, I thought.
The IDF already had stations up on the mountain on Israeli side, and it turned out to be surprisingly easy to set up new posts right at the top. Israel’s troops found it completely deserted.
So now, without a shot fired, the peak of Mount Hermon is in Israeli hands. How long for, we don’t know, but the IDF are unlikely to leave while things are still so volatile.
“We will stay in this important place until another arrangement is found that ensures Israel’s security,” Netanyahu declared. Breached borders is something Israel is keen to prevent ever happening again, after the horrors of October 7.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz has told troops that they need to be ready to stay on Mount Hermon throughout the winter. “Due to what is happening in Syria – there is enormous security importance to our holding on to the peak of Mount Hermon,” he said, calling the mountain “the eyes of the State of Israel, to identify threats near and far.”2
The world, predictably, has raged against Israel’s move up the mountain, but the communities just on the Syrian side of Hermon feel quite the opposite. In a video that quickly went viral, hundreds from Druze villages near the border of Israel have declared they want Israel to rule over them instead of the Syrian insurgents. They quite rightly perceive that their freedom and wellbeing will be better guarded by Israel. Here’s what they said in that meeting:
“We are with those who preserve our dignity… I don’t mind if anyone is taking pictures or recording – we ask to be annexed to the Golan… The fate of Hader is the fate of the surrounding villages, we want to ask to join our kin in the Golan, to be free from injustice and oppression,” the Druze leader declared. The crowd responded by chanting “We agree, we agree!”
“What’s our fate, our brothers?” the speaker asked.
“Israel!” the crowd replied.
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